weekly blakester's 52 for 2012, Week 52 "Busy (Beach Party)" Post 1215 FINISHED

Very nicely done Iain, fits the theme really well
 
superpippo said:
Hi Iain

Pack - good spot and just about on theme - one of those where if the viewer sees it as a jet pack (an expresso pot, a soda syphon and what looks like philishave razor heads!!) then it is spot on. Otherwise the explanantion makes it clear. Super pov ,detail, cplour and PP. Really like it as a photo (y)

Art - another original take on the theme. :clap: Like the comp and the detail in the wood. Probably just a little washed out in parts.
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Thanks Alan, I never looked at it in-depth to notice the component parts :LOL:

Cheers, I do agree about the light spill (y)

Dark Knight said:
Very effective mate, very effective indeed (y)
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Cheers again Dean (y)

jgs001 said:
Very nicely done Iain, fits the theme really well
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Thanks John, it keeps me up to date.

The goblin said:
Hi Iain, art is yet again a unique and clever take on the theme (y) Glad to see these two reappearing this year.
I'm intrigued as to how you light the background with a flash? When I try I just get hideous shadows, hot spots and what not :coat:
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Thanks Marsha, I held the flash off camera, above centre, pointing towards and a little down on the background IYSWIM. I have made the mistake in the past of having it too close to the background but this time I held it further away allowing the light to spread a bit more (probably too much judging by the washed out comments which I do agree with) This had the effect of a larger light fall which seemed to eliminate the shadows.

To be honest, it is trial and error for me until I capture a frame which in this case I was reasonably happy with.
 
Great originality again Iain. The brightness of the background works for me as does the use of a smaller and larger figure to make the frame have an angle to it.
 
Very clever, I like it a lot! It is a bit blown in places, but I think that might actually add to it rather than detracting.
 
Delta Skies said:
Great originality again Iain. The brightness of the background works for me as does the use of a smaller and larger figure to make the frame have an angle to it.
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Thanks Peter, I too like the bright background even with the hotspots on the figures. I tried different compositions but was happiest with this one.

Southdowns said:
Very clever, I like it a lot! It is a bit blown in places, but I think that might actually add to it rather than detracting.
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Thanks Mark, I like your thinking ;)
 
Late again :(
Below is my take on the theme of colour.
Not very original I'm afraid but I have spent most of the afternoon playing with lego :D. I had an idea in mind based on the art of Escher but couldn't quite get it to work.
C&C welcome as always.


47 - Colour by iain blake, on Flickr
 
blakester said:
Late again :(
Below is my take on the theme of colour.
Not very original I'm afraid but I have spent most of the afternoon playing with lego :D. I had an idea in mind based on the art of Escher but couldn't quite get it to work.
C&C welcome as always.


47 - Colour by iain blake, on Flickr
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This is really good...I like it a lot!....
 
I like that Iain, not least because its not your normal style. They're not the colours I'd choose, and I'm not convinced about the green drop shadow, but it's a great piece of thinking :)

Maybe needs the front face of the top (or is it bottom?!!!) horizontal bar to be darker, to match the vertical?
 
Great idea and well executed.

Escher....good show!!

OK, crit, well, there seems to be varying contrast in certain parts, top right and lower section (if contrast is the correct word!). I quite like the vivid green but would prefer dark shadows.

Still trying to work out how you did it...suspect multiplicity of sorts??

Cheers.
 
Southdowns said:
I like that Iain, not least because its not your normal style. They're not the colours I'd choose, and I'm not convinced about the green drop shadow, but it's a great piece of thinking :)

Maybe needs the front face of the top (or is it bottom?!!!) horizontal bar to be darker, to match the vertical?
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Thanks Mark, yes a step away from my usual stuff but something different to try. I applied the drop shadow then a tint and it changed the colour of the shadow too, I know not to everyones taste eh?
I didn't think to change the shade of the horizontal, :thinking:

michael23 said:
Great shot Iain, even if it does play with my eyes lol. The green really works well, I like the drop shadow. Only thing I can pick out, I would like to see a bit definition between the 2 bricks on the top right.
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Cheers Michael (y)
If I am correct, there isn't two bricks top right, it was a longer piece I used instead.

posiview said:
Great idea and well executed.

Escher....good show!!

OK, crit, well, there seems to be varying contrast in certain parts, top right and lower section (if contrast is the correct word!). I quite like the vivid green but would prefer dark shadows.

Still trying to work out how you did it...suspect multiplicity of sorts??

Cheers.
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Cheers Andy, I was faffing about with lego most of the afternoon trying to re-create Escher's stairs but just couldn't manage an interpretation of it, so I had to settle for this.
It is actually two shots, one with, one without the vertical. Into layers in photoshop to erase where the vertical overlapped with the horizontal at the rear (if that makes sense?)
Being honest, I think changing conrast and shadows selectively is beyond my pp skills. I could take the time to learn but its one of those things I will get around to :LOL:
 
Well I have surpassed myself this week with a very early entry to the theme.
Again, not an original idea but one which I really wanted to do. Thought I'd get it in early as I am not sure when I can get back to this in any proper way.
C&C welcome as always.


48 - Shadow by iain blake, on Flickr
 
michael23 said:
That is a nice image Iain, great bit of pp there, how did you get the shadow of the fork in? I like the tight crop, but I wonder if it needs just a little bit more space around the top rhs?
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Thanks Michael (y)
Not a lot of PP in there Michael.
It is a spoon resting on quite a thin chopping board. There is a fork stuck underneath the board and lit from below. This casts the shadow of the fork through the board so as it appears to be from the spoon. Some off camera flash (again!) set on quite a low power to throw some light onto the spoon without it casting too much of a shadow itself.
Tidied up in pp, levels, curves, sharpen etc and that was it.
Trying to create this in photoshop is way beyond my skillset :D

There wasn't much more room to be had I'm afraid, quite a small board so this was just about as much room as I had.
 
I love that Iain! I honestly thought it was two images merged in PP; that's how I'd have done it!

Perfect interpretation and a great shot - simple, but it draws you in :)
 
ooo I missed a few - art, love it, very much on theme :)

colour - very very clever, tho the top bricks look a little over-bright compared to the rest, however, still very clever and far better then anything I could do lol

shadow - another original and clever idea, love it :)
 
Hi, Iain, I had a similar idea, but not with cutlery.

It has a Magritte feel to it, with a bit of Escher.

You've done really well to convey a convincing idea.

The tones look a bit, errm, off. Not sue how to explain. Anyway, never easy working with flash and metal.

Nice tough adding a shadow to the frame, as well.

Cheers.
 
Hi Iain,

Colour is über clever! My brain had a job working how that was done :nuts: I'm not sure on the drop shadow and there's a slightly odd green line or something below the top/ back bricks (I know what I mean) But it still is an amazingly clever shot!

Shadow, I showed that to the people I'm at work with and we were all convinced you had done some photoshop magic on it. But just read your description :notworthy: super shot :clap: :clap: :clap:
 
Hi matey :wave:

Art...clever & original take on the theme , minor crit has been mentioned ao I'll not say anything other than Liking it lots mister (y)

Shadow.....another original take on the theme & really well shot (y).....& an Idea I can try to emulate as not donein pp ( which was my 1st thought) . Possibly a little dark on the main bit of the spoon & slightly very slightly blown at the end of the handle but thats the problem using flash on a shiny subject . Still wayyy better than I could manage...

Color...OMG...that fries my eyes.....brill idea & for me , very well executed...though can you use a different color next time please...green is , hmmm ,blurghhh

I'm running out of superaltives for your images Iain....:clap::clap:
 
Southdowns said:
I love that Iain! I honestly thought it was two images merged in PP; that's how I'd have done it!

Perfect interpretation and a great shot - simple, but it draws you in
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Cheers Mark, :LOL: as I mentioned earlier my pp skillset is somewhat lacking so I had to do this old school ;)

sturisoma said:
ooo I missed a few - art, love it, very much on theme

colour - very very clever, tho the top bricks look a little over-bright compared to the rest, however, still very clever and far better then anything I could do lol

shadow - another original and clever idea, love it
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Thanks Summer, glad you like them

superpippo said:
Hi Iain

shadow - Faultless for me. Original thinking.
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Thanks Alan (y)

posiview said:
Hi, Iain, I had a similar idea, but not with cutlery.

It has a Magritte feel to it, with a bit of Escher.

You've done really well to convey a convincing idea.

The tones look a bit, errm, off. Not sue how to explain. Anyway, never easy working with flash and metal.

Nice tough adding a shadow to the frame, as well.

Cheers.
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Cheers Andy, the drop shadow wasn't intended to be towards the theme, its a happy accident. Because it is a white background, I felt the need to add the drop shadow to "hold" the frame on the page IYSWIM

The goblin said:
Hi Iain,

Colour is über clever! My brain had a job working how that was done :nuts: I'm not sure on the drop shadow and there's a slightly odd green line or something below the top/ back bricks (I know what I mean) But it still is an amazingly clever shot!

Shadow, I showed that to the people I'm at work with and we were all convinced you had done some photoshop magic on it. But just read your description :notworthy: super shot
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:LOL: I know what you mean too Marsha, its the edge of where I was erasing some of the top layer.
I am afraid, as mentioned that my photoshop skills are far from magic :LOL:
It had to be done real time :D

blondie606 said:
Hi matey

Art...clever & original take on the theme , minor crit has been mentioned ao I'll not say anything other than Liking it lots mister (y)

Shadow.....another original take on the theme & really well shot (y).....& an Idea I can try to emulate as not donein pp ( which was my 1st thought) . Possibly a little dark on the main bit of the spoon & slightly very slightly blown at the end of the handle but thats the problem using flash on a shiny subject . Still wayyy better than I could manage...

Color...OMG...that fries my eyes.....brill idea & for me , very well executed...though can you use a different color next time please...green is , hmmm ,blurghhh

I'm running out of superaltives for your images Iain....:clap:
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:LOL: Cheers Lynne, shadow is something I have been wanting to try for a while but didn't have the props to do it. I had been searching for a while for some kind of frosted glass or film or something that I would be able to cast a shadow from the fork from underneath. A cheapy chopping board from the 99p shop did the trick. I hear what you are saying about the spoon being a bit dark but I had to dial the power on the flash right down so as it wouldn't cast a shadow too much from the spoon. It was the best of the bunch to be honest. Give it a go and let me know how you get on.
Yes the green is a bit of a marmite colour I see. The lego bricks were actually yellow but when processed, they were toxic yellow so I changed it to green.
 
Hi Iain, Shadow - Well done on taking a tricky subject. I was going to do the same shot until I noticed yours so did my 2nd choice instead which is similar!:):)
You have done well with the lighting especially with the spoon being shiny, getting the balance between the flashes is tricky (as I found out). your cheap choppinng board has done you proud and has made a great base!:)
 
*Sarah* said:
Hi Iain, Shadow - Well done on taking a tricky subject. I was going to do the same shot until I noticed yours so did my 2nd choice instead which is similar!:):)
You have done well with the lighting especially with the spoon being shiny, getting the balance between the flashes is tricky (as I found out). your cheap choppinng board has done you proud and has made a great base!:)
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Thanks Sarah, did you shoot the cutlery anyway, I'd be very interested to see how yours turned out. How were you going to achieve it? Similar method?
Yes it is tricky trying to balance the lighting. It is a compromise, or it was for me anyway :D

ChickenDipa said:
Colour - what a mind bender! I cant look at it for too long. Well executed!

Shadow - clever stuff, and a great interpretation of the theme.
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Thanks Alex, much appreciated. :)
 
Both colour and shadow are very very clever and really well executed no crit needed :clap:
 
Two very clever theme interpretations Iain...

nice bit of PP in the eye twisting colour image, the green works really well... I have to agree about the definition in the top two bricks...

Shadow, really excellent... I had to look for a bit before I worked out what seemed odd.. so that's a good thing.. even better that you were able to shoot it like this
 
Colour – This is very very clever Iain. I could imagine you spent ages trying to get everything to line up. Well done

Shadow – Well presented image even down to the shadowed frame. The approach has worked well and you seem to have won against the shiny subject.
 
Steven001 said:
Really like you're take on the art theme with the figurines, very creative and a bit different from the norm.
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Cheers Steven (y)

alsjazzera said:
Both colour and shadow are very very clever and really well executed no crit needed :clap:
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Many thanks Allan (y)

jgs001 said:
Two very clever theme interpretations Iain...

nice bit of PP in the eye twisting colour image, the green works really well... I have to agree about the definition in the top two bricks...

Shadow, really excellent... I had to look for a bit before I worked out what seemed odd.. so that's a good thing.. even better that you were able to shoot it like this
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Thanks John, both of them aren't original ideas but I wantrd to give them a go myself. (y)

Delta Skies said:
Colour – This is very very clever Iain. I could imagine you spent ages trying to get everything to line up. Well done

Shadow – Well presented image even down to the shadowed frame. The approach has worked well and you seem to have won against the shiny subject.
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Thanks Peter, the lego was a bit of trial and error.
Shadow was a bit more problematic with the shiny spoon, a compromise in the end I feel.
 
Week 49 Glow, a little late but whats new there :LOL:
I had thought of the idea during last week but needed a suitable location. After a little research, I found one not far from my home. C&C welcome as always.


Glow by iain blake, on Flickr
 
superpippo said:
Hi Iain
Glow - I think that is excellent. Hard to fault but maybe the lower right part of the tunnel where the dark background rises from r to l is the only crit - but so minor that it does not make much difference to a great shot.

i just wish that i was that creative.
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Thanks Alan, all crit is welcome, sometimes I just don't notice things.

I am sure the ideas are in you, might just need a little digging to bring them out ;)
 
Nice Glow, Iain, well exposed and well executed. The reflection on the top right of the bulb is a cracking addition.

Crit....hmmm, I'd like to see a tad more on the top.

Good show :clap:
 
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